Selective Training and Service Act

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Selective Service Acts

As World War II raged in Europe and Asia, Congress narrowly passed the Selective Training and Service Act, instituting the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the bill into law on Sept. 16, 1940, and all males age 21 to 36 were required to register with the resurrected Selective Service System—although, for the first time, provisions were...

Selective Service System

The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, created the country’s first peacetime draft. With Europe already engulfed in World War II and Japan making threatening moves in the Pacific, Roosevelt wanted to strengthen the unprepared U.S. armed forces. After World War II the Soviet Union rose to challenge U.S. political and military power,...

U.S. history

...was a great political force, and many influential individuals were determined that U.S. aid policy stop short of war. In fact, as late as August 12, 1941, the House of Representatives extended the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 by a vote of only 203 to 202. Despite isolationist resistance, Roosevelt pushed cautiously forward. In late August the navy added British and Allied ships...

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